PPWR Existing Stock: When Is Packaging “Placed on the Market”?
The European Commission has clarified how PPWR applies to packaging already in stock when the Regulation became applicable on 12 August 2026. We look at when packaging is considered placed on the Union market, what this means for distributor and imported stock, and how the same rules affect food contact packaging subject to the new PFAS limits.
PPWR Existing Stock: When Is Packaging “Placed on the Market”?
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), Regulation (EU) 2025/40, began applying on 12 August 2026. One of the immediate questions for manufacturers, importers and distributors is what happens to packaging and packaged products that were already manufactured, purchased, imported or sitting in stock on that date.
The answer depends largely on when the packaging was placed on the Union market.
The European Commission has clarified that packaging already placed on the EU market before 12 August 2026 does not become newly placed on the market simply because a distributor sells it after that date. This means that packaging already in the distribution chain can, in certain circumstances, continue to be sold after 12 August.
But the manufacturing date alone is not enough.
Packaging manufactured before 12 August but first placed on the Union market after that date may still be subject to PPWR requirements that became applicable on 12 August.
The distinction is particularly important for food contact packaging containing PFAS, where the Commission has confirmed that there is no general stock exhaustion period for packaging that exceeds the new limits and is placed on the market from 12 August 2026.
Does existing stock have to comply with PPWR after 12 August 2026?
Not necessarily.
The relevant question is not simply whether packaging was physically sitting in a warehouse on 12 August. Nor is it enough to know when it was manufactured.
The key question is whether the packaging had already been placed on the Union market before the relevant PPWR requirement became applicable.
Under Regulation (EU) 2025/40, “placing on the market” means the first making available of packaging, whether empty or with a product, on the Union market.
“Making available on the market” is broader. It covers the supply of packaging for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity.
The difference is important because placing on the market happens only once.
Consider a relatively simple supply chain:
Manufacturer → Distributor → Retailer → Customer
If the manufacturer places the packaging on the Union market when it supplies it to the distributor, the distributor does not place that same packaging on the market again when it subsequently sells it to the retailer.
That later transaction is a further making available on the market.
What did the European Commission clarify about distributor stock?
This question became particularly relevant as the 12 August application date approached.
In a written parliamentary question concerning packaging stock held by wholesalers, the Commission was asked what happens when packaging was supplied to a wholesaler before 12 August but remained in the wholesaler's warehouse when the PPWR became applicable.
The Commission's response confirms the distinction between first placement and subsequent distribution.
Where packaging has already been placed on the Union market through the relevant supply from a manufacturer or importer, a subsequent sale by a distributor does not constitute another placing on the market.
Consider the following example.
A manufacturer supplies packaging to an independent distributor on 5 August 2026. The distributor holds the packaging in its warehouse. On 20 September, the distributor sells it to a customer.
If the first making available occurred on 5 August, the relevant placing on the market occurred before the PPWR application date.
The September transaction does not reset the date.
This means that the physical location of packaging on 12 August does not, by itself, determine whether it falls on one side or the other of the regulatory cutoff.
Can packaging already in a distributor's warehouse still be sold?
Packaging that was already placed on the Union market before 12 August does not have to be placed on the market again simply because it moves further through the distribution chain after that date.
It is therefore misleading to describe the Commission's position simply as a PPWR “sell through period.”
There is no general countdown under which all packaging held by distributors must be sold within a particular number of months.
The underlying legal reasoning is different.
If the packaging was already placed on the Union market before the relevant PPWR requirement became applicable, its subsequent distribution does not constitute a new placing on the market.
That distinction matters.
A company relying on this position should also be able to demonstrate that the relevant first placing on the market actually occurred before 12 August.
Is packaging manufactured before 12 August 2026 exempt from PPWR?
No.
The manufacturing date and the placing on the market date are different concepts.
Suppose a packaging manufacturer produced 100,000 units in July 2026 but retained them in its own inventory.
If those units had not yet been made available on the Union market before 12 August, their July production date does not, by itself, establish that they were already placed on the market.
Two identical packages manufactured on the same production line on the same day can therefore have a different regulatory position.
One may already have been placed on the Union market.
The other may still be held by the manufacturer and be placed on the market for the first time after 12 August.
For PPWR compliance, describing inventory simply as “old stock” can therefore obscure the issue that actually matters.
The transaction history matters.
How does PPWR apply to imported products and existing stock?
The distinction becomes even more important for companies importing packaging or packaged products into the European Union.
Consider a product manufactured in China on 20 July 2026 and shipped to Europe on 1 August.
Neither date necessarily establishes that the packaged product was placed on the Union market before 12 August.
For imported products, the European Commission's PPWR guidance identifies release for free circulation at the end of the customs procedure as the relevant timestamp.
This means that goods can have been manufactured, purchased and shipped before 12 August but still be placed on the Union market after that date.
Companies should pay particular attention to goods that were:
in transit to the EU on 12 August
held in customs warehouses
physically present in the EU but not yet released for free circulation
ordered or invoiced before 12 August but imported afterward
The commercial order date or shipping date should not automatically be treated as the PPWR placing on the market date.
For importers, customs documentation may therefore become an important part of the compliance record.
PFAS restrictions make the existing stock question particularly important
The new PPWR restrictions on per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, provide one of the clearest examples of why the placing on the market date matters.
Article 5(5) of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 applies from 12 August 2026.
Under Article 5(5), food contact packaging cannot be placed on the market if it contains PFAS at or above the specified concentration limits.
The limits are:
25 ppb for any PFAS measured using targeted PFAS analysis, excluding polymeric PFAS from quantification.
250 ppb for the sum of PFAS measured as the sum of targeted PFAS analysis, where applicable with prior degradation of precursors, excluding polymeric PFAS from quantification.
50 ppm for PFAS, including polymeric PFAS. Where total fluorine exceeds 50 mg/kg, the manufacturer, importer or downstream user must, upon request, provide proof concerning the fluorine measured as either PFAS or non PFAS.
The Commission has provided additional guidance on the application and enforcement of these requirements in its PPWR guidance document.
Is there a sell through period for food contact packaging containing PFAS?
This is one area where the Commission has been particularly clear.
There is no stock exhaustion period for food contact packaging that exceeds the Article 5(5) PFAS limits and has not yet been placed on the market.
Manufacturing the packaging before 12 August does not create an exemption.
If food contact packaging is first placed on the Union market from 12 August 2026, it must comply with the applicable PFAS limits.
The position is different for packaging that had already been placed on the market before 12 August.
The Commission's guidance indicates that packaging already placed on the market before the restriction became applicable does not have to be withdrawn simply because it would not satisfy the new Article 5(5) limits.
Again, the relevant dividing line is the placing on the market date.
Not the production date.
Not the date of the final retail sale.
Not simply the date on which the packaging happened to be sitting in a warehouse.
Does recycled packaging get an exception from the PPWR PFAS limits?
No.
The Commission has also confirmed that there is no exception from the Article 5(5) PFAS limits simply because packaging contains recycled material.
This matters because the presence of PFAS does not necessarily mean that a manufacturer intentionally added PFAS to the finished packaging.
PFAS or other fluorinated substances may potentially enter material streams through previous uses, contamination or recycled feedstock.
The regulatory limit still applies.
For companies using recycled materials in food contact packaging, recycled content compliance and chemical compliance therefore need to be assessed separately.
A packaging format does not become compliant with Article 5(5) merely because the material supports another PPWR objective, such as increased use of recycled content.
Does PPWR require PFAS testing?
Article 5(5) establishes concentration limits for PFAS in food contact packaging. It does not simply say that every individual packaging unit or every SKU must undergo the same laboratory test before it can be placed on the market.
Companies nevertheless need appropriate evidence that the packaging they place on the market complies with the applicable requirements.
The Commission has acknowledged that there is currently no harmonised EU analytical methodology specifically established for testing PFAS in food contact packaging under the PPWR.
Its guidance therefore describes a stepwise analytical approach based on currently available testing methods.
The recommended approach begins with Total Fluorine testing.
Where Total Fluorine is below 50 mg/kg, the Commission indicates that the sample can be considered compliant with the PFAS requirement.
Where Total Fluorine exceeds that level, additional analysis may be necessary to determine whether the fluorine originates from PFAS or from other substances.
Further analysis can then be used where necessary to assess compliance with the lower targeted PFAS thresholds.
The compliance question is therefore broader than simply asking whether a supplier has provided a laboratory report.
Companies need to understand what was tested, how it was tested, which threshold the test addresses and whether the evidence can reasonably be connected to the packaging being placed on the market.
A generic supplier statement saying that packaging is “PFAS free” should not automatically be treated as equivalent to evidence demonstrating compliance with the specific concentration limits in Article 5(5).
Food contact packaging can make the placing on the market analysis more complicated
There is another detail in the Commission guidance that companies working with food contact packaging should consider.
The placing on the market event is not necessarily determined in exactly the same way for every type of packaging.
The Commission guidance distinguishes certain sales and grouped food contact packaging from transport and service packaging.
For sales and grouped food contact packaging, filling and final processing can be relevant because operations such as sealing may affect the compliance characteristics of the finished packaging.
Transport packaging and service packaging can be placed on the market empty.
This means that an empty packaging component sitting somewhere in the supply chain before 12 August cannot automatically be classified as pre 12 August stock without considering the type of packaging and the relevant commercial transaction.
The facts of the supply chain matter.
PPWR compliance does not replace other chemical or food contact requirements
The PPWR is not the only EU legislation that can apply to packaging.
Article 5 operates alongside other EU chemical and product safety requirements, including REACH and EU rules governing food contact materials.
A conclusion that packaging satisfies the PPWR PFAS thresholds does not automatically establish compliance with every other chemical or food contact requirement.
Likewise, determining that packaging was placed on the market before a particular PPWR requirement became applicable answers a specific PPWR question. It should not be treated as a blanket exemption from other EU legislation that may apply to the packaging or the packaged product.
This is particularly important for companies managing several regulatory regimes through the same supplier and packaging documentation.
How can companies prove when packaging was placed on the EU market?
The Commission's clarification turns what appears to be a legal definition into a practical data and documentation issue.
Companies may have several dates associated with the same packaging:
the manufacturing date
the purchase order date
the invoice date
the shipping date
the delivery date
the customs clearance date
the warehouse receipt date
the sale to the next economic operator
the final retail sale
Those dates are not interchangeable.
Depending on the transaction and the role of the economic operator, relevant evidence may include invoices, contracts, delivery records, transfer of title provisions, Incoterms, customs declarations, records of release for free circulation, warehouse records and ERP transaction history.
There is no single document that will necessarily establish the placing on the market date for every supply chain.
Companies relying on a pre 12 August placing on the market should therefore consider whether their records actually support that conclusion.
What should manufacturers, importers and distributors review now?
Companies holding packaging or packaged product inventory dating from before 12 August should avoid applying one blanket classification to all existing stock.
Start with the packaging itself. Identify the packaging format, materials and intended use, including whether it is food contact packaging.
Then identify the relevant economic operators. Determine who manufactured the packaging, who imported it where applicable, who first supplied it on the Union market and which companies subsequently distributed it.
Establish the relevant placing on the market date and identify the records that support it.
For imported products, check the customs status and release for free circulation rather than relying only on production or shipping dates.
For food contact packaging placed on the market from 12 August, determine whether there is adequate evidence of compliance with the Article 5(5) PFAS limits.
Where laboratory testing is used, understand the analytical method, the substances or fluorine measured, the thresholds addressed and how the test result relates to the packaging concerned.
Where supplier declarations are used, check what the declaration actually establishes rather than relying on a generic statement of “PPWR compliant” or “PFAS free.”
The same discipline should extend to the broader PPWR compliance file. Supplier evidence, packaging specifications, technical documentation, conformity assessment and the EU Declaration of Conformity need to tell a consistent story about the packaging being placed on the market.
The key takeaway
The PPWR application date of 12 August 2026 does not divide packaging neatly into “old stock” and “new stock.”
The more useful distinction is between packaging that had already been placed on the Union market before a requirement became applicable and packaging that had not.
A package manufactured in July is not automatically outside requirements applying from 12 August.
A package sitting in a distributor's warehouse on 12 August is not automatically subject to them either.
For imported products, customs status can determine which side of the date the relevant placing on the market falls.
For food contact packaging containing PFAS, the distinction has immediate consequences because the Commission has confirmed that there is no stock exhaustion period for non compliant packaging that had not yet been placed on the market when the Article 5(5) limits became applicable.
This is why PPWR compliance increasingly requires more than a packaging specification or a statement from a supplier.
Companies need to understand what the packaging is, who is responsible for it, when it entered the Union market, which requirements applied at that point and what evidence supports the conclusion.
For existing inventory, the question to answer is:
When was this packaging first placed on the Union market, and can we prove it?
Official sources
Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste
European Commission guidance on Regulation (EU) 2025/40
European Commission information on packaging and packaging waste
This article provides general information about Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste and does not constitute legal advice. The requirements applicable to particular packaging depend on the packaging, economic operator, transaction, timing and other legislation applicable to the product.
